


Par for the Course

by YorkandDelta



Series: Matt's Mini Putt [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Fake AH Crew, Fluff, M/M, Miscommunication, Rated M for Michael Swears a Lot, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-04-27 11:48:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14424789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YorkandDelta/pseuds/YorkandDelta
Summary: Matt gets hired at Mini Putt Palace where he is able to build any kind of course he can think of. He quickly realizes his job is just a front for one of the gangs in town, but doesn't care because he is enjoying himself and it pays well. He eventually meets his employers, the Fake AH Crew, and they have so much fun playing mini golf that they all become good friends. Things would be perfect.If only Matt didn't start falling for someone he knows can't be his soulmate. Gavin didn't say the phrase written on his arm when they first met. Matt really wishes he had.





	1. Double Bogey

Matt was a man of few, yet very specific, talents. He was pretty ok at most things, but he had two skills he was really proud of: building things and golf. He wasn’t good at building anything practical like furniture (unless you counted Ikea, he could put together a mean Hejne shelf). No, he was only really good at building mini things. His early love of Lego lead him to model kits and Minecraft (if you considered Minecraft building, which Matt totally did). Golf was another talent of his. There was just something about the angles and stroke power that just made sense to him.

 

These two hobbies are what lead him to Mini Putt Palace, resume in hand. For the past few years the place had been shut down with a “For Lease” sign out front, but earlier in the week the sign had gone down and Matt had seen people lingering around. He figured they were going to gut the place, or even tear it down, and rebuild something completely different, but just in case the new owners were going to reopen it he figured it wouldn’t hurt to put his name in. It had to be better than working at Burger King like he did now.

 

Matt wasn’t sure if there would be anyone when he went, but he was in luck. Through the glass door he saw a tall man with dark hair and a short bald man moving boxes around. He knocked and the bald guy came over and opened the door a crack.

 

“Whatta ya want?”

 

Matt’s arm twitched. It was close, but not quite, his soul mark. The word on his arm simply said “What” but Matt always assumed it would be spoken in that impatient tone of voice. He was resigned to his soulmate being an asshole. If he found them at all. He had heard people saying “What” probably hundreds of times. He stopped getting excited about it pretty quickly.

 

“Are you guys opening the Mini Putt again?”

 

“Looks like it. It’s gunna take some work before it’s open though.”

 

“Well uh, that’s why I’m here. If you are opening it and need people…” He trailed off. By this point the taller man had wandered over.

 

“You want to work at a shitty mini golf place?”

 

That wasn’t how Matt expected people working there to describe the place, but he was already here so there was no point in backing out now. “Yeah, I actually uh, really like golf.” Why did that sound like a question? “I can even help build the courses and do maintenance stuff too. I’ve done stuff like that before as a hobby.”

 

“Huh, You got a name?”

 

“Yes! Matt Bragg. I brought my resume.” He handed it over through the door, which the grumpy bald guy still only held open a crack.

 

“Prepared. I like it. I’ll take a look at this and let you know if we’re interested in taking you on.

 

Matt couldn’t ask for more than that, but the whole exchange had seemed off to him. Sketchy even. He wasn’t expecting anything to come of it, which was why he was so surprised when his phone rang a few days later. The caller introduced himself as Trevor and asked him to come to the mini putt the next day.

 

He was met with the taller man from before. Matt expected an interview but was shocked to discover that he was already being offered the job. And it seemed like he would be the only one working there. His duties would include maintaining the course as well as working the cash. Matt couldn’t get over the sketchy vibe until Trevor explained that he wouldn’t be responsible for any of the money stuff. He was supposed to just put the cashbox in the safe at the end of each day where someone would come pick it up to do the book keeping. The pieces clicked into place and Matt realized this was a front of some kind, for either drugs our laundering. He didn’t want to know the details. He wondered if Trevor was part of one of the gangs in the city. He decided he didn’t care. This place offered him a lot of freedom, not to mention it would pay twice as well as Burger King.

 

The first week Matt spent his days cleaning up and putting everything in working order. The floors were mopped and he found a bunch of unused faux turf to replace the threadbare patches on the courses. He didn’t have a lot to work with but eventually he got the place in reasonably respectable order. His next task was to create a website and social media pages, everyone needed an online presence in this day and age. Finally he climbed the rickety old ladder and updated the sign out front. “Mini Putt Palace GRAND REOPENING This Weekend”

 

Only five people showed up: a family with one kid and a teenage couple. The prices were so low that Matt knew it wouldn’t even cover one day of his work. Regardless, on Wednesday morning there was an envelope with his name on it in the safe with his full salary in it. In cash, of course.

 

It became routine for Matt. Monday and Tuesday the Palace was closed for maintenance. He tried his best to update the holes with the material he either had on hand or found around dumpsters in the alleyways nearby. Wednesday through Sunday the course was open, and steadily he got more and more business. It helped that he was able to spend a lot of time advertising the place when it was dead. Matt was able to sleep as late as he wanted. He decided his hours would be 3 to 10 pm. And every Wednesday his pay was in the envelope in the safe, regardless of how much money was in the cash box.

 

There was definitely something illegal going on. He often saw shady figures around the back of the place (probably drug dealers, he thought). But it worked for him and no one gave him any trouble.

 

Business started picking up. Matt decided he was going to use some of the money he was making on renovations. On the one hand, his boss couldn’t mind too much right? It was obvious they weren’t depending on this place to make a profit. On the other, Matt was about 99% sure he was employed by a gang and he knew that gang’s didn’t really take kindly to people taking their money. But, fuck it, he’d probably at least get a warning first. Just start small and they couldn’t care too much.

 

Right?

 

After a moderately busy weekend Matt took some of his earnings to the paint store and bought some colourful outdoor paint. Monday and Tuesday were spent repainting the sign over the door. He put the receipt in the safe with the cash box and on Wednesday his pay was there. No word about the paint, no deductions from his pay.

 

The next week it was indoor paint. The week after that was glow in the dark paint and UV lights. Business only got better. Matt was pretty sure that he made enough on the weekends to actually cover operating costs.

 

Trevor came to visit.

 

Matt hadn’t seen or really heard from his boss in three months. It was a Thursday night and Matt offered a “Buy one get one” deal to students on Thursdays so it had become a hotspot for high school couples. There was a steady stream of people. Not enough to make people wait for a turn, but the place certainly wasn’t empty.

 

“The place looks great man! You’ve done a lot of work!”

 

“Thanks.” Matt didn’t really know what else to say. The place _did_ look good. He was proud of his work. He hoped his boss wasn’t mad at him for spending too much money. He knew for a fact the place was making more money now than it had when he first started, but still, probably gang money.

 

Trevor wandered through the building. After he got a good look he came back to Matt’s counter. “So what else do you have planned for the place?”

 

It was a good thing that Matt actually spent time thinking about this; otherwise he would have floundered like an idiot. As it was he only blurted out the first thing that came to his head like an idiot.

 

“Ice cream.”

 

“Go on”

 

“We should sell ice cream. For when people finish their games. We get a lot of couples and kids. They would absolutely buy snacks and drinks.”

 

“When are you going to get that going?”

 

“Uhhh, I actually don’t have enough to buy the freezer for it so…”

 

“I getcha. Well as far as I’m concerned you’ve been doing great work. Anything big you want to order like that just send the info to this email address and I’ll see what I can do about getting it for you.” He scribbled his email on a blank scorecard.

 

“Thanks! I will definitely do that.”

 

“You don’t have any other questions for me?”

 

“Nope.” Matt didn’t want to know anything that could get him in trouble if the police came snooping around.

 

“Good man. Keep up the good work!” With that Trevor left. Matt briefly wondered if he would see him again in the next three months. But then he realized he now had essentially free reign on improving the place, and started looking up what he would need for his next project.

 

*****

 

“Weird”

 

“What’s weird?”

 

“You know the Mini golf place we own?”

 

“What about it?”

 

“Guy I hired to run it left a receipt for paint.”

 

“So?”

 

“So, it was already paid for. The place is actually making money.”

 

“That is weird.”


	2. Bogey

Ice cream and cold drinks was a hit. It even came with a coworker. A bunch of guys came to install the freezer and deliver the food and a woman stayed to sell it. Mica was young and good looking. She was great with customers and her sense of humour matched Matt’s really well. They also shared a lot of interests and during the day when business was slow they would often talk about anime or hair dye. Matt was pretty disappointed her first words to him were “Looks like we’ll be working together!” and not “What” but there was no way he would ever have said “Wow, your eyes are prettier than the stars!” as his opening line. Matt wasn’t that smooth around pretty people.

 

He and Mica liked to gossip about the couples who came through. Which were soulmates and which were just having fun before they found their other half. Mica met hers pretty early, which is why she didn’t bother covering her mark that circled her wrist like a bracelet anymore. Matt’s was on the inside of his arm, almost in his armpit. No one would see it unless he was showing off arm muscles, which he didn’t have, so didn’t show off. He was glad it was easy to cover with even a baggy t-shirt. It wasn’t taboo to tell or show people your mark, but a lot of people considered it bad luck, or at least an opportunity for people to mess with you.

 

Matt noticed pretty quickly that some people just came in to buy “ice cream” from Mica. He was pretty sure they left with more in their bowls than cold dairy treats, i.e. “special sprinkles,” but he really didn’t want to know so he never asked.

 

Matt was gearing up to start a new project. The second floor also belonged to Mini Putt Palace but it was full of old cubicles and boxes. Matt spent a few maintenance days just sorting through and clearing everything out.

 

His plan was to make a hardcore mini putt course. The one downstairs was kid friendly, but Matt wanted a challenging course, even if only he used it. Mondays and Tuesdays were spent sawing wood and gluing fake turf. He would often lose track of time when he was working and ended up staying quite late.

 

One night he was there late painting the accessories. He had built a working mini windmill and Trevor had delivered the motor when he emailed for it. Matt hoped one day he could set up a course with a lot of moving pieces. His plan was to change the course often to keep people coming back.

 

He was a little lost in the zone when he heard a loud bang from downstairs.

 

Curious, Matt went to the top of the stairs and froze when he heard voices from below. At first they were indistinct, but they started to get louder. People had broken in. Matt realized it could be gang members, either with Trevor or against him. Either way, he didn’t want to meet them face-to-face. He hoped he could hide upstairs and whoever it was would focus on the safe. As he crept back he knocked over a paint can.

 

“Wot-” “Shhh, someone’s upstairs.”

 

Matt’s blood ran cold. He ran back through the course, looking for a place to hide. He spotted the windmill. It had an access hatch on the side which he threw open and slammed shut behind him. He tried to calm his breathing and listen for footsteps.

 

Matt dug his phone out of his pocket and pulled up Trevor’s number. He hadn’t used the number since the phone call about starting at Mini Putt Palace and he really hoped that wasn’t just a burner phone. He typed out a quick message.

 

_Me: Urgent question, which gang are you in?_

 

Matt heard movement outside his windmill. Footsteps. Someone was walking right outside his hiding spot. Matt held his breath. He thought about the tools he left laying around. He probably couldn’t use any of them as a weapon, but surely a wrench was better than nothing. The footsteps started to fade. His phone rang.

 

_Incoming Call: Trevor_

 

Why wasn’t his phone on silent! He answered the call and put it on speaker just as the windmill door was yanked open. He may as well have an audience for his murder.

 

A man in a black skull mask towered over Matt who was crouching in the small space. The knife in his hand glinted in the light but he didn’t need that to intimidate Matt. Everyone knew the skull mask. The Vagabond.

 

Vagabond pointed the knife at Matt and said in his deep voice, “I hope that phone call was worth it, boy.”

 

“Ryan?”

 

Both men looked at the phone between them.

 

“Trevor?”

 

“Ryan Haywood, please tell me you aren’t pointing a gun at Mini Golf guy.”

 

“Uhhhh”

 

Matt obviously didn’t know when to shut up because next thing he knew he was saying, “I mean, in his defense, it’s a knife.”

 

“Ryan! Do _not_ stab the Mini Golf guy!”

 

The other people started to gather around. A man absolutely covered in tattoos spoke up next. “What the hell is going on here?”

 

“Geoff, can you tell me why you’re threatening Matt and not across town laying low from the police?” Trevor didn’t sound mad, just tired.

 

“Car blew up. Who the fuck is Matt?”

 

“Uh, hi?”

 

“Yeah I figured out that you’re Matt, dumbass. Why are you here?”

 

“I work here!” Matt was getting a little indignant. As if he was the one who had to explain himself.

 

A slim man who was wearing sunglasses (at night, indoors!) stepped forward and asked, “Do you work in the windmill?” in an amused British accent.

 

“Everyone shut up!” Geoff (presumably) yelled. “Trevor, is this guy going to call the cops on us?”

 

“Probably not. He hasn’t yet so he’s either stupid or he knows what’s good for him.”

 

“I’m right here! I’m not going to call the police, you guys pay too well.”

 

“See, there you go! Lay low there. Play some mini putt. Just don’t kill the Mini Golf guy.”

 

 _Call Ended_.

 

The man in the brown leather jacket spoke up next. “So why are you here this late?”

 

“I wanted to finish building the course. I lost track of time.”

 

“You built all this?” said the guy in the sun glasses.

 

“Yeah, that’s why Trevor hired me.”

 

“No shit. This place looks a lot better than when I last saw it.” The last speaker held out his hand to help him up. Matt recognized the bald guy from his first day. “I’m Jeremy.”

 

“I’m Jack.” said a large man with a big red beard. The Vagabond was in fact called Ryan, and underneath the mask he looked pretty normal. Tattoos was Geoff, sunglasses introduced himself as Gavin, and the guy in brown leather was Michael.

 

“So I’m guessing I don’t wanna know what you guys were doing before you got here.” Matt asked.

 

“I mean, it is a pretty good story…” Ryan mused.

 

“Nah, I’m pretty sure y’all where here with me testing my new courses. Got here at 8 and were playing ever since.”

 

Geoff cracked a smile. “I can see why Trevor likes you. So, where are your putters?”

 

Matt got the crew set up with balls, putters, and score cards. He almost offered to turn on the UV lights but realized that would show bloodstains that he really didn’t want to know about.

 

“If you guys want to play in teams three one group can start here and three can go ahead a few holes.”

 

“These holes look so lame!” exclaimed Michael. “Why aren’t we playing the upstairs ones?”

 

“I haven’t tested all of them yet, they’re a lot harder.”

 

“Are you saying we can’t do it?”

 

“Actually yeah. Because they might not be _doable_. Because they haven’t been _tested_.” Why was he back talking a bunch of criminals?  Just because Trevor told them not to kill him doesn’t mean they won’t.

 

“Well I guess we’re gonna go test them then aren’t we? How hard can they be?”

 

 *****

 

“Jesus Fucking ChRIST!! This is impossible!” Michael threw his putter in a fit of rage. “What kind of SICK FUCK builds something like this?!”

 

“Actually this one is totally doable.”

 

“Shut the fuck up, no it isn’t.”

 

“Yeah, I already tested this one, its fine.”

 

“Bullshit, no one can do this!”

 

Matt sighed and grabbed the putter Michael threw. He put the ball in the starting square, lined up his shot and swung. The ball banked off the side, rolled perfectly up the ramp, bounced off a second wall, and went straight into the hole. Textbook hole-in-one. Everyone else had scores in the double digits and no one had made it to the hole yet.

 

“THAT’S NOT FAIR, YOU BUILT THE FUCKING THING!!” Michael’s face was red and he looked ready to explode.

 

Geoff chose that moment to take his shot. He was at the bottom of the ramp and couldn’t seem to find the right balance between hitting too softly, causing the ball to roll back where it started, or launching it across the room. This shot he did the latter, sending his ball straight into the mini pool Matt was going to set up. Lucky for Geoff it was still empty.

 

Now it was Geoff’s turn to start shouting. At his distress Michael started roaring with laughter. Matt decided it was an improvement over Michael screaming at him.

 

Matt felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Gavin’s big green eyes staring at him. “How did you do that Matt? That was bloody amazing!”

 

“I really like golf. I have a lot of practice I guess.”

 

“Can you do it again?”

 

So Matt started showing them his techniques for finishing the holes. Matt rarely had a chance to show off his skills, and he felt a rush of pride whenever the gang members shouted their appreciation for his abilities. He wasn’t perfect, he had designed the holes to be a challenge for himself after all, but none of the Fakes could come close to playing like him.

 

It was really fun! Even though he worked at a Mini Putt place, Matt rarely got to play, and especially not with other people. It felt like no time had passed before the crew got a call saying they were clear to head home. Matt needed to get to bed himself. The crew made him promise to tell them when his hardcore course was finished so that they could all play again.

 

Matt went to bed that night looking forward to having the crew come around more often, but something stopped him from falling asleep. He had a nagging feeling that he had forgotten something. He probably left the lights on at Putt Palace.  

 

***** 

 

“So guys, how was mini golf?”

 

“It was bloody brilliant! Matt is so clever at building courses! We have to go again!”

 

“Does that mean we’re planning a family fun day at the Mini Putt?”

 

“Absolutely!”

 

“Oh god”


	3. Par

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out early because I was so excited that ArtlessComedic drew me fan art!!! So cool!!! It's the windmill scene! https://artlesscomedic.tumblr.com/post/173426427016/matt-works-at-a-mini-golf-course-and
> 
> I love it!
> 
> But that means this chapter is less edited than it could be

The Fake AH Crew kept their word about coming to Mini Putt more often. They decided to give Matt an essentially endless budget to complete his projects so he was finally able to buy some material that Trevor was holding off on. The upstairs course flourished. Matt would change it up once a month to keep people coming back. Instead of having small groups go through all together Matt had to make it so that one larger group could book the upstairs for a set time. It was very popular with birthday parties and club events.

Matt made sure to invite the crew whenever he needed to test out a ‘map’. He could get a pretty good idea about what worked and what didn’t based on how well they played, or more accurately, what parts made them swear at him. An unforeseen result of this is that he became friends with a bunch of gang members.

Trevor started to actually come and see the business that he was technically running. Matt loved when he helped test the new routes because he set a pretty good baseline. He wasn’t spectacular, but he wasn’t terrible either. He didn’t send his ball flying across the room and he never seemed to get overly frustrated. The more time Matt spent with him the more he liked his boss.

Outside of work Matt only rarely saw Trevor. He was extremely busy running the crew. He owned a few other fronts around town and was responsible for making sure all of the gang’s business got done. Trevor often told Matt how glad he was that he could just leave him to his own devices and not worry about any problems from the Mini Putt operation. He also told Matt that he never expected the place to break even, but now he thought that once Matt stopped needing to buy expensive equipment the place might be more profitable than the drugs they sold.

Geoff was great fun to have over to test his maps. He was actually a good player, but he had horrible luck. His ball would always manage to find bumps or irregularities that caused it to achieve physics-defying stunts or get caught in awkward crevices. Geoff’s reaction to this was priceless. He would get to frustrated he would start shouting and stomping around like a child. At one point he even found a table to go hide under. His antics always brought the rest of the crew to tears of laughter. Matt started recording Geoff’s outbursts and uploading them to the Palace’s social media, with his face blurred for privacy of course. The videos got a lot of hits, and it was great advertising for the business.

Geoff found out that Matt is also good at building things in Minecraft and quickly recruited him to help build things in his virtual world. All of the crew were avid gamers, but Geoff liked to come up with fun little challenges for them to play. He and Matt spent a lot of time together building. They learned a lot about each other in that time. Geoff told Matt about his divorces, the first to someone who wasn’t his soulmate and the second to the person who was. The first kind of divorce is pretty common, especially with people who had given up on finding their soulmate only to meet them later in life. The second type was much less common. The two still got along and kept in touch, but she didn’t want to be involved with his criminal lifestyle and he couldn’t blame her for that.

Ryan wasn’t actually a good indicator for his golf courses. He _was_ a good player, but as soon as he started losing or getting bored he would start antagonizing the other players, especially Geoff. What impressed Matt the most about his playing was how well he could time hitting his ball to collide with the others’ and send them flying. It was actually pretty funny and always made the promotional videos get higher view counts.

Outside of Mini Golf Ryan acted pretty much the same. He would get bored and cause chaos around the city. Matt was pretty intimidated by him for a long time and did his best to avoid him. Trevor worried that the more time Matt spent with the crew the more likely he was to encounter violence so he made Matt learn self-defense and got Ryan to be his teacher. The lessons actually helped Matt a lot. He never thought of himself as being strong, but they made him more confident. It made him slightly less nervous of Ryan. Only slightly.

Jack was Matt’s favourite member of the Gents. He was consistently good at finishing the maps which reassured Matt that his courses were actually doable. He was also had a good attitude about it, rarely yelling or swearing. It was refreshing from the rest of the Fakes.

When Matt found out that Jack likes old arcade games he approached him about an idea Matt had been toying with for a while. He wanted to set up an arcade. Together they bought out the store next to them and filled it with arcade tables, both old and new. Jack actually had his own collection so he lent them to Matt. They named the new business Bragging Rights Arcade after Matt’s last name.

When Matt noticed that some people would come in with different colour prize tickets and received special ‘candy bags’ he went to Trevor and yelled for about half an hour. It was the first time he objected to any of the gang’s illegal activities, but as he pointed out, he was very against putting drugs in a place where children can get them, especially accidentally. They compromised that no kids would be allowed in the arcade after 8pm and that after that time the prizes would be given out by a trusted gang member named Larry, who would ensure that no drugs stayed on site in the morning. Matt also insisted that nothing harmful was to be sold and was assured that the Fakes only dealt ‘fun’ drugs to rich partiers, not anything super addictive or easy to overdose on.

Michael was volatile. Sometimes he was chill and had a good time and joked around. Other times, well lets just say it didn’t take Matt long to understand why he had the nickname “Rage Quit.” His shouting and creative cursing were uploaded with Geoff’s, much to the delight of Matt’s social media followers.

Michael hosted regular Mario Kart tournaments at his house, which is where Matt first started to hang out with the crew outside of the Mini Putt. Matt was always amazed at how quickly Michael could go from angry shouting to laughing or to being affectionate to his wife, Lindsay.

Lindsay was a pure delight whenever she came over. She wasn’t a regular but Matt loved it whenever she did come. She was _awful_ at mini golf. Not just Matt’s things, which she only rarely was able to complete, but just in general. She was a very talented, intelligent woman, just… not at mini golf. In spite of that she was always so _cheerful_. She had a sunny attitude and was just happy to be there. Instead of swearing she would laugh at herself and Matt was pretty sure it reminded the others to laugh at themselves too. When some of the better golfers made mistakes they got upset, but Lindsay didn’t have any fears about looking silly so she just rolled with it and it was an attitude Matt could appreciate.

Lindsay was the one to invite Matt to Girls’ Night. She had been talking to Mica about going to the hair salon the next day since it was a Tuesday and she didn’t have to work. Matt mentioned how he was planning on dying his hair again and soon both Lindsay and Mica insisted that he come to the salon with them. He did. It was a blast! The three of them got along really well. They mostly talked about anime and cats. After the salon the girls were going to meet up with the other ladies who worked for or dated someone who worked for the gang. Matt was prepared to part ways, but the two insisted that he should join them. The group got together every week; Matt started joining them maybe once every two months. It was good fun!

Out of everyone Matt became the closest with Jeremy. He learned that Jeremy wasn’t as grumpy as his first impression made him out to be, he just liked to pretend he was tougher than he was. Jeremy probably had some of the best luck when it came to mini golf, but he wasn’t consistent like Jack. There were moments when he would hit the pall perfectly, maybe even better than Matt, but he balanced it out by hitting everything else way too hard and having to retrieve his ball from the far corners of the room. He had a great attitude about it, despite calling his ball a whore very frequently.

Jeremy was the person Matt started talking to about deeper feelings. They talked about feeling lonely after moving to Los Santos and not knowing anyone when they first arrived. Jeremy was the first person Matt ever told that he hoped his soulmate would be a man. Gay couples were in the minority, but did exist. There were very loud people out there who, even though they believed the marks were a gift from god, refused to believe that a same sex partner could be a soulmate. Even really distinctive phrases were passed over as “someday a nice woman will say that and you’ll be so happy together!” Jeremy was a great listener and he knew just how to cheer Matt up whenever he was getting frustrated. They also talked about their pets. Matt told Jeremy about his pet Arya and Jeremy told Matt he lived with four cats at home, but he only seemed to mention three of them by name.

And then there was Gavin. If he was honest, Matt wished Gavin would stop coming to Mini Golf. He obviously didn’t like being there so Matt didn’t understand why he kept coming. Instead of cursing or hiding under tables like the others when he got frustrated Gavin got mean. He would just insult and belittle Matt continuously. It was one thing to hear Geoff call him a bastard, or Michael call him a sick fuck, but hearing Gavin saying his courses made him want to throw up and comment on what a terrible person Matt was was...different somehow. It just made Matt sad. He tried to remember that Gavin was probably just venting his frustrations…but it didn’t feel that way to Matt. Gavin made it personal somehow.

Which is why Gavin was able to totally blindside him at a party.

It was a larger party than normal. A few guys from another branch of the same gang were in town. They were people who had founded the gang and most of the Fakes had worked for them before moving to Los Santos so this was a lot like a reunion. Jeremy had invited him and then instantly got super drunk and abandoned Matt. He was walking to the table with all the food when he suddenly heard his name and felt an arm drape across his shoulders.

“Matt! There you are! Burnie, you have to meet Matt, he’s absolutely wonderful!”

Matt was pulled into conversation with an older man with glasses and a beard. He looked very generic; Matt wouldn’t have been able to describe him to the police without making him sound like every other white guy with a beard and glasses. Which is probably a useful thing for one of the most wanted men in the country.

“Burnie, this is Matt who I was telling you about. He’s the one who makes the Mini Golf Maps! Matt’s Maps!” He giggled. “He is an absolute genius! He comes up with the designs all by himself and builds everything by hand! We all have a blast playing, we go once a month or more! And not only that but he is the best mini putter you’ll ever see! I bet if there are professional putt putt tournaments Matt would win them all! It is amazing what he can do!”

“Uh” said Matt.

Burnie came to his rescue. “Gavin’s been telling me a lot about the place. We should probably come try it while we’re in town. I have to say, Gav showed me the videos you post with Geoff losing it. I watch those on repeat sometimes, they’re hilarious dude!”

“Thanks?”

“So tell me how you got started with golf, did you play a lot as a kid?”

Burnie was good to talk to. He listened and asked questions but he also had a lot of stories of his own to tell. Matt was so put at ease by him that it was easy to talk to Gavin too. He felt a little bad for disliking Gavin before. He honestly didn’t know that the Brit thought so highly of his skills. Enough to have talked about him to his mentor, if a crime boss can be called that.

Whenever Gavin lashed out at Matt at because of his mini putt maps Matt reminded himself of Gavin’s arm around his shoulders and his bright smile when he introduced him to Burnie. He also started dishing it back. The first couple times he insulted Gavin he worried he had taken it too far. But Gavin genuinely didn’t mind, he would just give him a cheeky grin. Matt figured the Lad was too used to Michael’s way of expressing affection.

 

Soon he and Gavin had a pleasant kind of banter worked out between them. Instead of making him sad it gave him a fluttery feeling in his stomach. He started to admire the other man. Things he had found annoying before became charming. Matt loved spending time with him at crew hangouts. He wished he could see Gavin more often, and started noticing things to tell the other man when he saw him in person. Just throw away thoughts that he thought Gavin might find funny or interesting. He started thinking of Gavin a lot actually. Maybe that was a bad thing.

 

*****

 

“Dude, are you alright? You’re looking a little lost.”

 

“Yeah, I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m forgetting something important.”

 

“Keys, wallet, phone?”

 

“I have all those. I’m sure it’ll come to me. If not it can’t be that important, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the longest chapter, and no plot happens. Oops?


	4. Birdie

The first time Matt visited Jeremy’s house was for a movie night. He arrived early and decided it was better to wait in his car until the proper time. He made sure he parked a block over so Jeremy wouldn’t notice. A strange woman opened the door and Matt panicked that he somehow went up to the wrong house. Jeremy told him he lived alone with his cats.

 

“Hi! You must be Matt. I’m Kat, Jeremy’s wife.” 

 

Matt managed to choke out a “Nice to meet you” and even achieved a “Thanks for having me over” while mentally cursing Jeremy’s sense of humour. 

 

In spite of waiting Matt was still the first to arrive. He, Jeremy, and Kat started mixing up their prefered drinks and moving chairs so that everyone would be able to see. Michael and Lindsay showed up next, and since Gavin can’t drive they brought him with them. It was a Lad’s Night and Matt felt honoured to get an invitation. 

 

They were watching a bunch of shitty action and horror movies. The best parts about them was everyone talking over them and ridiculing the bad acting, shoddy camera work, and nonsensical plots. Michael had a drinking game that everyone followed and soon they all became pretty tipsy. 

 

The movie they were watching now was especially bad, but they also included an awkward love story. It was about two soldiers on opposing sides of a war who knew each other only by reputation and vowed to kill each other for revenge. But then when they finally met they said each others soul words and so then the war ended and everyone lived happily ever after. The End. 

 

“Uuuuuggghhhh” Michael whined. “Why do we always pick such horrible movies! That was the worst ending I’ve ever seen!”

 

“It so was!” Lindsay added. “Just get those two to kiss and suddenly all of these people are fine with a peace treaty? Like, I won’t fight her, she’s my soulmate,  _ bullshit _ .”

 

“I just love how cheesy they made their marks.” said Kat. “ _ I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life _ and  _ We meet at last _ . But what a twist, they meant it in an I-want-you-dead way!”

 

“As far as movie marks go that counts as clever. I’ve seen some really cringe worthy ones”

 

The conversation turned to the weirdest soul marks they have ever seen, or heard rumours about. (“No, I don’t believe you’ve ever seen someone with  _ please tickle my pickle _ on their forehead” “But if they did it would be  _ awful _ right? Because everyone would read that out loud”).

 

“What about you, Matt?” Gavin asked suddenly. 

 

“What’s the weirdest one I’ve heard? Uhhh let me think…”

 

“No, do you have a weird one or a normal one?”

 

“Oh god, I have literally the most boring mark you can imagine. Just… so generic.”

 

“I don’t know, I think I have you beat on that. I hear mine literally every day.” Gavin looked wistful. 

 

Michael replied “That’s fine, you just gotta make sure you always say something super memorable back!”

 

“I’ve tried that! So far no luck.” Gavin frowned. “Honestly, I think I’m going to give up on the whole thing. Just gonna go out there and date who I want, words or not.”

 

“Oohh Gav, that’s risky” warned Lindsay.

 

“Yeah but doable.” countered Jeremy. “Lots of people date people who aren’t each other’s soulmates.”

 

Matt stayed silent throughout the ensuing debate. It was amazing how simple words can completely change your perspective on things. Except for that being literally how soul marks worked _ shut up brain, not helping _ . Matt hadn’t realized his feelings for Gavin until a wave of  _ hope _ surged through him. He admired Gavin, he knew that before but now that there was a possibility of being  _ with _ Gavin Matt suddenly realized how much he wanted that. 

 

Just as quickly as it came the feeling went.  _ If Gavin decides to date anyone he wants, what makes you think he’d want to date  _ **_you_ ** . Matt was under no illusion that he would be anyone’s first choice. He was awkward and scruffy and was better at video games than interacting with people. Finding his soulmate was the only chance he had at finding someone who would give him the time to look past first impressions. He didn’t think so lowly of himself that he believed no one would love him, he just thought no one would give him the chance to find out. 

 

That movie night was weeks ago and Matt was still stuck on it. Now that he acknowledged his crush it grew stronger and became really distracting. Gavin himself was distracting as well. At some point he decided he wanted to break Matt out of his little awkward shell. But his tactics only made Matt more self-conscious. He didn’t like being the centre of attention and having Gavin ask him question after inane question flustered him. It was really messing with his focus. Matt had to go through his whole day feeling like something was  _ off _ like he was  _ missing _ something but couldn’t figure out what. He blamed it on his feelings for Gavin. 

 

He was so lost in daydreaming about Gavin that he failed to notice the man himself walk into the Palace and right up to the front desk.

 

“Hello Matthew. Is the rainy weather keeping you busy today?”

 

Matt jumped. Gavin was leaning on the counter staring straight up at him. He looked really  _ good _ today. He looked good normally, but today he seemed more polished somehow. He had even managed to keep his hair from getting flat in the rain. Probably thanks to the umbrella he had with him. “No, not really. Wednesdays are pretty dead anyway and I think people are more likely to stay home in this weather.”

 

“Excellent. I was wondering if you had time to join me for coffee.”

 

That sounded fantastic. Matt would take any excuse to spend more time with Gavin. “I always have time to join friends for coffee. Who else is going?”

 

There was a beat of silence. Matt saw Mica turn towards him looking shocked and he honestly didn’t know what he had messed up this time. He didn’t think he sounded too desperate there. Surely Gavin wouldn’t realize how lame Matt was just from that?

 

Gavin seemed a little embarrassed too, so maybe Matt had come off as a little desperate. He hoped Gavin wouldn’t change his mind about coffee. “You were the first person I asked. I don’t think anyone else is around. Why don’t just you and I go? If Mica can hold down the fort here?”

 

“Of course! You two have fun now!” Mica practically shooed Matt out from behind the desk. 

 

They shared the umbrella on their way to a sweet little cafe in the centre of a park. They had their coffee and debated what other kinds of family-fun businesses Matt could build. After deciding ball pits were too unhygienic they decided it should be a bouncy castle for adults and kids alike. 

 

The coffee break went by way too fast for Matt. They had both finished but Matt didn’t want to leave yet. They eventually made their way back out in the storm, both huddled under the umbrella. 

 

All of a sudden a strong gust of wind caught the umbrella and sent it tumbling through the park. Matt and Gavin both shouted in surprise and chased after it. They had to splash through puddles and they both got soaked but in the end they were triumphant. Matt caught the runaway umbrella just before it could blow across the road. Gavin collided with him a second later, and they stood laughing and clinging to each other in the rain. Matt held the umbrella over them and the pitter patter of raindrops was all he could hear.

 

Gavin was so close to him, still clutching his arm. His eyes were crinkled with laughter as he smiled at Matt. He was so  _ cute _ . Matt’s heart sang with happiness at the same time as a blush crept over his cheeks. He looked down at Gavin’s lips, imagining how soft they would be. 

 

“This reminds me of the Rihanna song.” He blurted out.

 

“What?”

 

“Because I’m under your umbrella-ella-ella-eh.” He deadpanned.

 

Gavin stared at him in disbelief before starting to laugh. “Matt! You ruined the moment, Matt!” Gavin took the umbrella and together they walked back to the Mini Putt. 

 

Mica teased him mercilessly after Gavin left. Asking how their date was (“It wasn’t a date!”), saying how harsh it was of Matt to friendzone Gavin like that (“The friend zone isn’t even a thing, shut up!”) and so on. Matt spent the rest of his shift with a permanent blush, thinking about how nice it would be if Gavin did want to go on a date. That would have been the perfect first date too. 

 

*****

“You can’t just give up already! You’ve barely gave him a chance!”

 

“Yeah, well he made it bloody well clear he wasn’t interested.”

 

“But he's is so  _ dumb _ at this kind of thing, you just gotta-”

  
“Just drop it alright! It didn’t  _ work _ . I just can’t keep doing this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you listen closely you can hear Gavin's internal screams. Anyway, hope you all enjoy Matt being just so clueless this chapter.
> 
> I'm trying to write the last chapter, which is pure fluff, but I had a really shitty week and thinking of fluff is kinda hard right now :(


	5. Eagle

A week after the coffee-in-the-rain incident Matt found himself at one of the Fake’s bases to pick up some equipment he ordered for a new mini putt map. After loading everything into his car Matt stopped in the kitchen to chat with Jeremy. He explained how he was planning on using pressure sensitive elevators to make his courses more challenging. They talked until Jeremy needed to head out to do something for Trevor.

 

Before he left he mentioned, “Oh by the way, I think Gavin was looking for you earlier. His office is upstairs to the left.”

 

Matt wondered why Gavin might want to talk to him. He knocked on the door he hoped was Gavin’s office.

 

The door was violently ripped open “What?” Gavin’s face changed from annoyance to surprise at seeing Matt.

 

“Uh, hi?”

 

“Matt! I’m so sorry, I thought it was Jeremy again. Did you want something?”

 

Matt didn’t hear him. When Gavin opened the door his arm had spasmed and started to cramp. If he were the type to exercise he would blame it on that, but he could tell it was his soul mark burning. It made it really hard to focus on what Gavin was saying. “No, yeah Jeremy said you were looking for me?”

 

Gavin looked down and started to rub his shoulder. “Oh, sorry. I think he was joking. This actually isn’t a good time, can I talk to you later?”

 

“Sure thing Gav, let me know if you need anything alright?”

 

“Thank you Matthew.” He closed the door. The pain in Matt’s arm flared and then disappeared.

 

Distracted, Matt made his way downstairs. He didn’t see Jack before he bumped into him. “Oof. Sorry Jack!”

 

“Hey Matt, what’s up? You look a little zoned out.”

 

Matt paused before answering. He knew Jack was easy to talk to and it would be nice to have someone to bounce his thoughts off of. “Something weird just happened and I’m trying to get my head around it.”

 

“I was about to go for burgers. Wanna come?”

 

The two had their food in front of them at the fast food restaurant table before Jack brought it up again. “So what’s on your mind?”

 

“I was just wondering, do soul marks always have to be the first thing people say to each other? Or is it possible that something they say later can show up.”

 

“Hmmm I’ve never heard of anything like that. I think it is more likely that you’ve overheard someone saying something before you met them without knowing it. It doesn’t have to be the first thing they say _to you_ after all, just the first thing you hear.”

 

“Huh.” Matt hadn’t even considered that possibility. If it could be anyone he overheard in the street that would make it so much harder. Why even have a mark if there was no way of confirming you found the right person? But it would be so nice if he could be bonded with Gavin.

 

“What makes you think it came late? Did something happen? Do you think it may be a specific person?”

 

“I - I was kinda hoping it was Gavin.” Matt started fiddling with his napkin, tearing it in strips and twisting them together. “Just now he said my words and my mark started burning. It was really weird.”

 

“Do you remember the first thing you heard him say?”

 

“Honestly, I don’t. I was terrified out of my mind when I first met you guys, remember?”

 

“Oh shit, yeah! I forgot about that.” Jack chuckled. “Well let’s try and piece it together. You were hiding in the windmill…” He paused to let Matt narrate.

 

“I think he did say something about windmills, actually. It would be pretty obvious if that was on my arm.”

 

“But why were you in there in the first place?”

 

“Because a bunch of people just broke in!”

 

“And how did you _know_ that?”

 

“Because I heard you talking…” He trailed off as realization hit him.

 

“Do you remember what you heard?”

 

“No, I was too panicked.” Matt bit his lip. Could it be?

 

“So it’s possible that you did hear Gavin saying your words? Would that be a bad thing if you did?”

 

“No, that would be - That would be really nice actually.”

 

Jack smiled. “Well there’s no way of knowing for _sure_ , but” he paused and leaned towards Matt, covering his hand with one of his. “You can always give it a try. Best case scenario you get along really well, words or not. Worst case it doesn’t work but you know that at least you tried and you don’t have to wonder if you missed your shot.”

 

“I don’t know. How do I even bring it up at this point?”

 

“Matt, if there is one thing I do know, it’s that a soulmate is worth fighting for. You’ll find a way, but don’t just ignore this.”

 

“Ok, I won’t. Thanks Jack.”

 

It was easier said than done. Over the next few days Matt agonized about how to tell Gavin “Hey so I might be your soulmate, is that ok?” Or maybe he shouldn’t bring it up and just try asking Gavin on a date. With the possibility in his head that Gavin could maybe be is soulmate Matt started reevaluating their interactions, especially the coffee incident, and he came to some promising conclusions:

 

  1. Gavin has a generic phrase, which Matt may have said without realizing it
  2. Gavin tries to say something memorable when he hears his phrase and “do you work in a windmill?” is definitely memorable.
  3. Gavin has been particularly nice to Matt (not counting his opinions of the mini golf courses) and would go out of his way to say nice things about him to others.
  4. Maybe Mica was right and Gavin had asked him on a date that time. If he had then Matt royally embarrassed himself.



 

Mat also thought about how Jeremy told him to go find Gavin, but when he did Gavin not only wasn't looking for him, but was annoyed at Jeremy. It was a weird interaction and Matt decided it was way less scary to talk to Jeremy about it than Gavin.

 

Jeremy and Matt were hanging out at a pub not long after. Matt had enough drinks in him to feel confident about bringing up the subject that had been on his mind for the past few days.

 

“Did Gavin ask me on a date?” The drinks had made him even less smooth than usual. Jeremy snorted beer out of his nose he was laughing so hard.

 

“Oh my god, dude, did you not realize that?”

 

“No! I thought he was just being friendly!”

 

“ _Matt_.”

 

“Look, I’m not good at this, ok?”

 

“Clearly! I obviously need to work harder to get you two together. Jeremy sighed and tapped on his phone.

 

“What?

 

“Like, weeks ago Gavin started asking me if I knew what your soul mark was and stuff. I’ve been trying to get him to ask you out ever since. And you blew it!”

 

“Did I?” Knowing Gavin had been asking about the mark made him feel fluttery, but it was nerves not butterflies. Would Gavin give him another chance?

 

“Nah, you just have to actually talk to him. Ask him out! I think he likes you enough that he will literally jump at the chance to date you. He already told me he doesn’t care if you don’t have his words.” Jeremy’s phone was buzzing but he ignored it.

 

“About that. I was talking to Jack and I think I might. At least, I can’t know that I don’t.” Matt tried to puzzle out if that had actually made sense and tried again. “I heard people talking when y’all broke in that night. He could have said the phrase without me listening for it.”

 

“Wow, it really is that generic then?”

 

“Yep, it’s a curse.”

 

“Would you be ok telling me?”

 

“What.”

 

“What does your mark say?”

 

“ _What_.”

 

Jeremy raised his voice. “What is your mark?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“What?”

 

“Yes.” Matt was having fun now.

 

“I’m asking you, what’s your mark!”

 

“What _is_ my mark, Jeremy!”

 

“Why are you asking me! How should I know!”

 

“I’m not asking you, I’m telling you! What is my mark!”

 

“Alright asshole, if you don’t want to tell me you could have just said so!”

 

Giggling, Matt rolled up his sleeve to reveal the word What running down his bicep. Jeremy’s face turned an angry red.

 

“I hate you. I hate you so much. You are the worst. Mother FUCKER.”

 

“Everything alright Lil J?” Matt jumped. Gavin had appeared over his shoulder. He hopped the newcomer would think his face was red from laughing so hard and not the sudden embarrassment he felt. He quickly rolled down his sleeve.

 

“No!” Jeremy exclaimed. “You two are both idiots. Sit down and actually talk to each other. I need another beer after that. Fuck.” He shoved Gavin into the booth and stormed off to the bar.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“Jeremy’s annoyed with me.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Right now, because he has no sense of humour but generally because I’ve been oblivious to something really important.”

 

“What’s that then?”

 

Gavin was leaning forward, staring at Matt, but his fingers were fiddling with the coaster and Matt could tell he was nervous. It made it a lot easier to blurt out the next thing he had to say.

 

“I didn’t realize you asked me on a _date_ -date and not a friends date and he’s frustrated that I’ve been too shy to ask you out back.”

 

There was an agonizing pause as Gavin let the information sink in. Finally he broke into a huge grin and asked, “Really?”

 

“Yeah. I really like you.”

 

“ _Matt!_ ” Gavin scooched around the booth and threw his arms around Matt. He hugged Gavin close and heard him mumble into his shoulder “I really like you too.”

 

They stayed chatting at the bar for a while with their arms around each other. At one point Jeremy caught Matt’s eye and gave him a thumbs up and signed that he was leaving. Not long after Matt and Gavin decided to leave. They were told that Jeremy had informed the bartender that they had just discovered they were soulmates and had paid off their tab for them. Matt blushed because one of the things they hadn’t talked about yet was the whole soulmate issue. That was a conversation for another time.

 

Gavin’s place was a block away, and he invited Matt to stay the night. Matt very happily agreed. They ended up curled up together on Gavin’s big bed. Matt felt more peaceful than he had in weeks. All felt right with the world, All felt right with the world, he no longer felt the nagging feeling that he was missing something. Gavin was warm and soft in his arms. He drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

 

*****

 

_Sent: Yo, get to the bar right now, goddammit!_

 

_Received: What’s going on?_

 

_Received: Are you ok?_

 

_Received: I’m on my way_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some smARTY pants guessed where this plot line was going immediately. Wouldn't let me have any suspense! You know who you are 0.0
> 
> Also I had the opportunity for Abbot and Castello so I took it!


	6. Albatross

Matt woke up slowly. He felt warm and cozy in a soft bed and arms wrapped around him. He took a deep breath and pulled Gavin close. Giggling told him that Gavin was awake. He opened his eyes to see  _ his soulmate _ staring back at him. Probably. As far as Matt was concerned that is what Gavin was to him. 

 

The Brit started playing with Matt’s hair, twirling the dyed part around his fingers. Matt sighed and closed his eyes again.    
  


“I think I forgot something last night.” Gavin whispered.

 

“What’s that?”

 

Gavin leaned forward and kissed him. It was slow and lazy but oh so perfect. Gavin’s fingers stayed in his hair, reaching backwards to hold the back of his neck. Matt rubbed up and down Gavin’s sides. When they eventually broke apart Matt saw Gavin pause to just breathe with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. It made Matt’s heart do  _ things _ . 

 

Gavin grinned at him. His trailed his hand down Matt’s shoulder to his arm where the T of his soul mark was peeking out of his shirt sleeve. He stroked his thumb over it. 

 

“I”ll show you mine if you show me yours, luv.”

 

Matt groaned at the phrasing but pushed his sleeve back. Gavin stroked it again, hummed and kissed it. Then he pushed the collar of his shirt away showing the words “Uh hi” written on his shoulder.

 

“Wow, we’re a pair aren’t we.”

 

“We really are.” Gavin licked his lips and looked away. “Do you think you’ll still look for them?” He sounded nervous, almost sad. 

 

“I think I’m looking  _ at _ him, Gav.”

 

Gavin’s eyes snapped to Matt’s face. Hope appeared in his eyes as he started to smile. “Yeah?” 

 

Matt brought his hand up to cup Gavin’s face.  “I think I overheard you before I saw you. There’s no way to prove it, but I’m sure of it. This just feels so right to me.”

 

“Me too. I’ve been worried I’d gotten it all wrong. I’ve wondered about people in the past, but not the way I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I was sure it was you but you never acted like it was me.”

 

“I’m not gonna lie, I really had no idea. I just knew I liked you. I never thought you’d like me back.”

 

“Don’t ever think that, Matt. I was smitten with you since I saw that first hole-in-one. Very impressive.” 

 

Matt turned bright red. “You did  _ not _ .”

 

“I did too! Or maybe it was seeing your head sticking out of a windmill. That was sexy. You had that whole  _ Moulin Rouge _ vibe.”

 

“Have you ever seen  _ Moulin Rouge _ ?”

 

“Nah. I know there’s a windmill though.” 

 

“You’re awful.”

 

“You’re the one stuck with me.” 

 

The two beamed at each other and kissed again. They spent the morning in bed kissing and cuddling. They eventually conceded that they needed to get up and ended up going to a diner for waffles. Matt decided he would gladly spend more of his mornings with Gavin, especially if they ended in waffles. 

 

Gavin insisted that they go out on a real first date. He claimed that the one at the cafe didn’t count because Matt didn’t think it was a date. The two went out to see a movie at a film festival. The movie was good, thought provoking but funny. The dinner afterwards was great. They decided on the cliche dinner and a movie, a boring first date for boring soul marks. Matt didn’t think any part of it was boring, he enjoyed every moment. 

 

Matt hired a few employees to give himself more free time now that the business was running well. Trevor mostly staffed him with down-on-their-luck kids who had been caught dealing in the Fake’s territory. They were given a place to learn employable skills and get a reference for when they applied to other jobs. If they wanted to make a little extra on the side to save up for college, the Fakes could help out with that too. 

 

Gavin started helping Matt come up with ideas for the obstacles. His boyfriend was great at coming up with super creative ideas that would fuck people over, so applying that to mini golf was a no-brainer. 

 

One memorable afternoon Gavin offered to help Matt touch up the UV paint. “Glow in the dark golf” after 8pm was a hit so there was a lot of fluorescent paint on the courses. Gavin was fooling around. He insisted it should be called  _ Goldy Glowy Golf _ and was exclusively using the yellow paint. He and Matt got into a heated debate about how all colours should be used. One thing lead to another and the next thing they knew a tube of orange paint exploded directly into Gavin’s face. Matt was almost in tears from laughing so hard, until they found out that Gavin couldn’t wash the paint out of his hair and then he was  _ crying _ from laughing so hard. Seriously, he gave himself a cramp it was so bad. 

 

When the crew saw it they made sure to point out that it matched Matt’s red streak and it looked like the couple had done it deliberately. They already had the reputation for being sickeningly cute together so it wasn’t a stretch. Gavin played it up for all it was worth, which embarrassed Matt so much he blushed as red as the dye. It only lasted for about a week but Matt knew the teasing would last much longer. 

 

The thing with having soul words that everyone says all the time is that just because you found your soulmate doesn’t mean everyone else suddenly stops saying it. Matt always got a kick in the gut any time someone’s first words to him were ‘What’ but the first time was the worst. 

 

He was in his tiny office doing paperwork for the arcade side of the business when he heard a knock on the door. One of the new kids, Max, had been getting complaints about a group who had come in and were swearing up a storm, not in the adult course upstairs, but the family friendly one. Parents were complaining, but when Max had asked them to stop they wouldn’t.

 

Matt sighed. He walked over to the holes where he saw a rowdy group of men and one woman swinging their clubs around recklessly and shouting. There were a few parents shooting them dirty looks. He walked up behind them and cleared his throat. The men turned, the biggest one sneered when he saw Matt in all his baggy hoodie glory. 

 

“What?” The man reminded him of Ryan, with piercing blue eyes and the physique that hinted at raw strength. Matt flinched at the sound of his phrase. This was exactly what he had always pictured whenever he imagined meeting his soulmate.    
  
“You and your friends need to leave.” 

 

The man crossed his arms, showing off his biceps. “Yeah, and who’s gonna make us?” 

 

“Me, I am making you. Right now.” Matt was surprised he was keeping his cool. If this had happened before meeting the Fakes he would have been cowering in his boots, but now he had a higher tolerance for people intimidating him. 

 

“I don’t think this guy knows who he’s talking to James.” The woman spoke up from behind Muscles.

 

“You’re right I don’t, but I’m guessing you don’t either.” Matt pulled the zipper down on his hoodie just enough to show off the knife in his inner pocket. Gavin had given him the set as a gift. He knew for a fact that the Vagabond had a similar set, if not identical to the untrained eye. “Y’all are gonna wanna leave while  _ I’m _ asking you. You don’t want me to get my boss involved do you?”

 

The group was obviously involved in Los Santos’s criminal underground because they seemed to recognize the knife. The group looked at each other before dropping their putters on the ground and storming out. 

 

Matt called Trevor to make sure there weren’t going to be any problems. Trevor came over and looked at the security footage. He told Matt that the group belonged to another gang that they had a shaky truce with. Matt ended up running into them more and more, as the truce with the Fakes solidified into an alliance. The group apologized to Matt so he invited them back to Mini Putt Palace, after making them promise to keep the bad behaviour to the upstairs room only. He was relieved to find out that James had already met his soulmate. The relief made him realize just how much he dreaded someone splitting up him and Gavin, which only reinforced his belief that they truly were soulmates. 

 

Matt was out for ice cream with Gavin when he experienced the other side of that scenario. The place was moderately crowded and they were lucky to get one of the last tables on the patio. There was a large group of young women out too, obviously enjoying a sunny day at the beach from the way they were dressed. Gavin had suckered Matt into standing in line for their ice creams, using the excuse that someone needed to save their table. 

 

Matt saw a stunning woman come up to their table. She was wearing a white wrap over her bikini, but since it was slightly damp it wasn’t doing too much to cover her. She smiled dazzlingly at Gavin.

 

“Uh… Hi!”

 

“Can I help you?” Gavin blinked up at her.

 

“I was just wondering if this seat was free.” She pointed to one of the two empty seats at the table. 

 

“Of course! Help yourself.” Matt’s heart jumped to his throat. Nerves hit him like a brick. 

 

The redhead smiled wider and sat down. Matt didn’t see what happened next because it was his turn to order and he was so flustered he needed all of his focus not to look like a fool. 

 

When he turned back around Gavin was looking slightly annoyed. He heard his partner say. “Look, luv, there’s been a little mix up. I’m here with my  _ soulmate _ . So if you need that extra chair at your table you can take it with you.” 

 

Matt’s heart soared. He took the cones when they were handed to him and went to sit at the table. As he handed Gavin his cone the Brit leaned over and kissed his cheek. 

 

“Thanks babe.” 

 

Matt shot a glance at the woman, still at the table. She was bright red, the colour matching her dyed hair. “I’m so sorry for bothering you!” She stood and smiled sheepishly. “You two are super cute together, by the way.” she added and went back to her table. 

 

“Sorry for that Matthew, I thought she just wanted the chair.”

 

“It’s fine.” Matt was still a little tongue tied. He had been so afraid that Gavin had found his real soulmate, and it wasn’t him after all. 

 

He was distracted all afternoon. He couldn’t get his fear out of his head. What if that woman had pulled Gavin away from him? Eventually his quiet behaviour caught his partner’s attention. They were back in their shared apartment getting ready for bed. 

 

Gavin came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him as he was brushing his teeth. Matt realized he may have been doing that for more than the recommended two minutes. “Are you alright, luv?” 

 

Matt spit out the toothpaste. “Yeah, sorry. I just… What if that girl was your soulmate?

 

“ _ Matt _ . I knew she wasn’t.”

 

“How though? You didn’t give her a chance.”

 

“I didn’t need to. You’re the one for me, I never doubted it for a second.” Gavin pulled him into a kiss. Matt started to relax but his anxiety wouldn’t go away that easily.

 

“But what if -” “Shhhh, none of that. I love you. I want to be with only you. I don’t need words on my skin telling me that, I think you’re perfect.” 

 

Matt buried his face into Gavin’s shoulder. “I love you too Gav. I never want to lose you.”

 

“You don’t have to. I’m going to stay with you forever. Wait.”

 

“What?”

 

“We’re doing this all wrong, this isn’t the way it’s supposed to go.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“Wait here, love.” Gavin rushed off, leaving an uncertain Matt behind him. Not for long, he came rushing back with something in his hand. “Bloody ruins the surprise though. Had a romantic date all planned out.” He dropped to one knee. “Matt Bragg, I love you more than I can say. Will you be mine forever?” He held out the ring. 

 

Matt was stunned. He started crying and collapsed on his knees in front of Gavin, pulling him into a tight hug. “Oh my god. Gavin! Yes! Yes I will, please!”

 

Matt still had to act surprised two weeks later when Gavin took him on the planned proposal date. The crew had gotten involved to arrange the perfect evening by on the pier. Matt suspected that Ryan was responsible for making sure that no one else was around. There were twinkly fairy lights overhead, Matt guessed Jack had set those up. He’s pretty sure he saw Jeremy around sound equipment. Geoff had to have been the one to cook the food the two ate for a lovely candlelit picnic. They were at a picnic table with a fancy white cloth and a single rose in a vase, eating a chicken dinner when all of a sudden fireworks started going off. 

 

Gavin pulled him up and walked him to the end of the pier. He got down on one knee and gave the most heartwarming speech Matt had ever heard. He had tears in his eyes by the end of it. But Matt also noticed the crew creeping closer, most of them with their phones out, documenting the event.

 

Gavin finished his speech with the expected “Will you marry me?”

 

Matt looked into his big green eyes. He looked so happy and content. Matt answered, “But I’m already engaged.”

 

“ _ WHAT THE FUCK?!” _ It was Michael. He was enraged. Face red and the picture of ‘if looks could kill’ “How dare you! I’m going to push you in the ocean you piece of shit, what do you mean you’re engaged. Have you been cheating this whole time?” 

 

He had stormed over to Matt and balled his fists into his shirt and gave him a hard shake. Gavin had to force his way between them. Matt could see him shaking with his silent laugh. 

 

“Micoo! No, he’s joking Micoo!” 

 

“That isn’t a funny joke!”

 

“Put him down Micoo!” 

 

Michael stepped away from Matt but his look of pure fury didn’t leave his face. Matt saw the look of shock and disappointment on everyone’s faces, except Gavin’s of course. Gavin was suppressing laughter. 

 

“You the fuck are you engaged to!” Geoff was clearly not amused. 

 

“I’m engaged to my soulmate.” 

 

“WHAT SOULMATE?!” Geoff’s voice was cracking with rage. 

 

“He’s just being a prick ‘cause I asked him weeks ago.” 

 

“You WHAT?”

 

“Yeah no, we’ve been engaged for like, two weeks now.” Matt added helpfully. 

 

“Mother _ fucker _ .”

 

Matt just had time to register Jeremy’s hands on his chest before he was falling backwards. He hit the water with a huge splash. Matt was thankful that they weren’t too high up and the water was deep enough to break his fall. The next thing he knew he heard a shriek and a wave of water washed over him. Gavin came up spluttering beside him. As soon as he got a lungful of air he was cursing Ryan for ruining one of his good shirts. 

 

The two swam to shore, which wasn’t very far at all, but they were still soaking wet when they got out. The crew gave them a hard time for making them go through all the effort of arranging the perfect proposal, only to find out they had gotten engaged in their own bathroom. 

Years later, Matt treasured the engagement photos the crew took of them where they both looked like drowned rats. Hair plastered to their heads, clothes dripping wet and clinging to their bodies, but the biggest, goofiest grins you could imagine. 

 

*****

 

“You could have just said yes you know.”

 

“Yeah, but I mean, where’s the fun in that?”

 

“Oh there isn’t any, that’s why I love you.”

 

“I love you too Gav.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank all of you lovelies for all your kind comments and kudos. Kind Komments and Kudos. I really appreciate you taking the time to read this. I wrote it for me, the way I wanted to, and tried not to worry if anyone else would like it, so I'm super pleased that you do <3
> 
> Here is who is talking in each of the little final dialogues, which made perfect sense to me but now I realize would not to anyone else:  
> Double Bogey: Trevor to Jeremy, before Trevor visits the Mini Putt  
> Bogey: Trevor to Gavin, after the crew meets Matt for the first time  
> Par: Matt to Mica, caused by Matt feeling like he is missing something (i.e. his soulmate)  
> Birdie: Gavin to Jeremy, after the failed date  
> Eagle: Jeremy texting Gavin while at the bar with Matt, causing Gavin to come meet them  
> Albatross: Gavin to Matt, retelling the story a years later


End file.
